


Field Medicine

by JMount74



Series: Febuwhump [10]
Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Amputation, Gen, mentions of injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-15 02:08:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29676792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JMount74/pseuds/JMount74
Summary: Virgil loved combine harvesters. Thank goodness Grandpa Grant taught him about the injuries they could cause.
Series: Febuwhump [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2137590
Kudos: 8





	Field Medicine

**Author's Note:**

> For melmac78 and the prompt spin: field medicine plus infirmary; and the Febuwhump prompt 17: field surgery

Combine harvesters are beautiful machines. Virgil used to love watching them move up and down the fields of his grandparents farm, longing even at 11 years old to get his hands under the hood and on the motor. His Grandpa knew by now not to leave the kid alone where there was any machinery – or tools. Or toys.

Grant Tracy loved all his grandsons equally, but he could not deny that Virgil held a special place in his heart. The boy loved the farm, he loved the equipment, the endless fields – and they had a lot – he loved the animals. So Grant found ways to include him wherever possible. 

And he had to service his combine, so he made sure with Lucy that Virgil could stay over while he did. Of course, where Virgil went there was inevitably also Scott, the two were almost inseparable, so Grand had planned this visit well. He’d scheduled servicing the combine before she would be needed in about four weeks’ time, just in case there were any nasty surprises. And to keep Scott happy the crop dusters would be visiting, and they had arranged to take Scott for a spin knowing the 14-year-old would do as he was told and thoroughly enjoy it.

The visit went really well, and Grant took his time with Virgil, covering the basics of the engine and safety considerations. The blades were wicked, and he needed to ensure his grandson would take care.

Virgil thought back to that day now as he desperately set about bandaging up what was left of the man’s arm. He wasn’t here as iR, rather, he had been passing when John had contacted him and explained there had been an accident in a field near him and would he attend while Gordon flew Two over. Time was of the essence.

John had been right. Thank god Virgil always travelled with a full first aid kit in his truck! It hadn’t taken long to get to the specific field. It was the only one around for miles with a combine sitting in it. Currently inactive due to the accident. He wasn’t sure exactly how it had happened, but he had two men with major blood loss due to traumatic injuries. One had lost the bottom half of his left arm, the other had serious lacerations to his legs.

A field is not the ideal place to perform medicine of any kind, but needs must. He’d placed the severed limb in some damp bandages and into a plastic sealed bag, emptied out his cooler and stashed it in there, covered with the ice he had to hand. By the time he’d begun cleaning the man’s arm Two was landing, and Virgil was ever so relieved he’d have help for such serious injuries.

He was even more relieved when it was Scott and Gordon who ran out. Alan might be an absolute asset to the team, but Virgil didn’t want his baby brother witnessing these kinds of injuries if he could help it. Even as he worked he realised how smothering that sounded. At least both his military brothers had experience with traumatic injuries. 

Scott and Gordon set about helping the man with the lacerated legs, trying to stabilise him to move him to Two’s infirmary. It was a messy job, but once the scanner had done its’ job they could clearly see where his injuries were, and thankfully he had not damaged the main arteries but there were enough injuries to the peripheral ones that he was losing a lot of blood.

Virgil’s patient was on board Two first. He was remarkably calm, and Virgil kept his eye out for symptoms of shock as he connected the monitors to him. Calling John to just keep an extra eye, he went back out to help his brothers. They had bound the man’s legs together to move him, and the three of them transported him to the infirmary.

Gordon took the pilot’s seat as Virgil’s medic expertise would be needed, and while Two made her way to the nearest trauma centre, Virgil set about checking the wounds over, stitching some of the lesser leg wounds – a little field surgery whilst out in the field – and checking over the bigger wounds. John had called on ahead, and by the time Two landed, less than ten minutes had elapsed from take-off.

Handing over the two patients and the cooler, Virgil sighed in relief. Farm machinery injuries were usually fatal, and they were lucky he had been so close by. And a part of him thanked his Grandpa for detailing the kinds of injuries a combine would give that meant he had been prepared.


End file.
